Why should Nova Scotians trust this government after budget chaos?
CLAUDIA CHENDER : Nova Scotians deserve to know who is making the decisions but, so far, the ministers in this government can't answer the most basic questions about this budget: the cuts they made, the cuts they reversed, or the cuts that remain.
Now for reversing some of the most terrible cuts, cuts that likely would have landed this government back before the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, they want praise. When you propose 10 cruel things and you do only eight, it's still cruel.
The government is supposed to do the work beforehand to determine the outcome of choices and people are still worried.
Why didn't the government do their jobs in the first place instead of creating chaos for Nova Scotians?
HON. TIM HOUSTON (The Premier) : First off, Speaker, I want to assure the honourable member that if anyone is looking for praise, politics is probably not the career to pursue. We are in these roles because we want to do what's best for Nova Scotians. We get up in the morning, and we try to do the best we can, every single day for Nova Scotians.
We are not perfect, Speaker, and we do not pretend to be. Instead, we have the courage to acknowledge when we've got something wrong and say that we got that wrong and we'll try to do better the next time.
Speaker, that's what's happening with this budget process. We'll continue to do everything we can to move this province forward.
CLAUDIA CHENDER : Thousands and thousands of Nova Scotians could have told the Premier that the cuts proposed in this budget were wrong, but he didn't listen to them. He doesn't have to take my word for it either. Yesterday the Deputy Premier said: "This has been a chaotic time. We acknowledge that, and we know it's been a challenging for these organizations."
Speaker, it is this government that created the chaos and this government that caused the challenges. They spent money out of budget and then told Nova Scotians, people living with disabilities, artists, musicians, caregivers, librarians that they had to pay for their mismanagement.
They didn't do the work to determine the impact of the cuts on families, communities and whole sectors of our economy so why should Nova Scotians now trust them that they have got it right?
THE PREMIER : At every step along the way we try to do what is best. Sometimes things happen and you have to respond as a government. Sometimes there's an awful fire, sometimes there's a flood, sometimes circumstances change and you have additional money and you can invest in housing, or you can invest in health care.
Speaker, the additional appropriations that we made, all of those investments are in Nova Scotians, and I am proud of every single one of them. I'd love to talk about every single one of them.
What I would say to Nova Scotians is that during this budget process - which is very complex and lasts a long time - in trying to address the financial challenges of today that the country is feeling, that North America is feeling, we got too clinical and a little less human. We're trying to get human again, Speaker.
CLAUDIA CHENDER : This complex process put vulnerable people across the province on the chopping block and ministers could not explain why and Nova Scotians have now lost trust in this government.
The night before the cuts were walked back, the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board told the media he couldn't predict if things would change. The next day the Premier said the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board knew all about the changes. Then, when questioned by the media about who had made the decisions, the minister said it's a team approach.
By this government's own admission, the budget cuts have been chaotic and harmful. It is clear the ministers aren't in charge.
Who is responsible for this disastrous budget? What is the Premier doing to make sure that this doesn't happen again?
THE PREMIER : I want to assure the member that there's nobody on that side in this government working in the civil service who takes any pleasure in a Nova Scotian feeling stress. We do not take pleasure in that; it's very upsetting when that happens.
We feel that upset as well. I take responsibility for that. We are a team approach. We do feed into each other. As Premier, the buck ends with me. I listen very carefully to my team. I listen very carefully to Nova Scotians. When I realize that something needs to change, we have the courage to make that change. We're not ashamed of saying we need to change something. We will continue to listen to Nova Scotians. We will continue to work with Nova Scotians. We will continue to step up in support of them at every time we can.